Daily detachment from work and home : the moderating effect of role salience

Is ‘switching off’ from work and home more or less necessary for individuals depending on role salience? The present study focuses on this question by assessing the importance of trait role salience for the relationship between daily detachment from work and home on the one hand, and several outcomes on the other hand. Forty-nine employees from different organizations in Spain filled out a general questionnaire and a daily questionnaire three times a day, during five consecutive working days. Results show that detaching from home particularly helps individuals with low work role salience to perform better at work and reduce home—work interference. Contrary to our expectations, detaching from work is especially important for individuals with high home role salience, increasing evening cognitive liveliness and reducing work—home interference. Our findings indicate that differences in trait role salience may affect the beneficial impact of detachment from work and non-work domains.